


Mochi

by TokiKurp



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Animal Death, Death is off screen, Gen, Grieving, Not Beta Read, Shiratorizawa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:29:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23657635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TokiKurp/pseuds/TokiKurp
Summary: He didn't expect to say goodbye so soon.NOT BETA READ
Relationships: Semi Eita/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 50





	Mochi

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER: Animal death (but it does happen off screen)

“Mochi, Mochi my girl. Whatcha doing?” Semi asked his sleeping siamese cat, Mochi, over video call. He smiled as she yawned and opened her eyes to see her human on the other side. She lifted herself up and rubbed herself against the phone. “Ahh I miss you, Mochi.”

“And she misses you, dear.” Came Semi’s Grandmother’s voice from the other side. “Are you still planning to come home this weekend?”

“Of course. Coach hasn’t told me otherwise.” Semi responded as he watched Mochi sniff the camera. “Don’t worry Mochi, I’ll be home to cuddle you.”

Mochi meowed in response as she laid her head down and stared at Semi. The setter smiled at his beloved cat, noticing as she started to fall asleep.

“How has she been doing lately?”

“She’s been alright. Your Father is coming home early today to take her to the vet.” Semi, who had been getting dressed, stopped tying his tie. 

“How come?”

“She’s been acting strange and hasn’t been her normal self. She’s also been coughing and it doesn’t sound like she’s trying to cough up a hairball. But don’t worry dear, it’s probably nothing.” Grandma Semi explained as she began to pet the sleeping cat. Semi could hear the purring coming from the sleeping cat.

“Are you sure, Grandma?” 

“It’s probably nothing. You know how strange this sweet girl is.” Grandma Semi tried to reassure him and she isn’t wrong. Still, the setter couldn’t help but worry about what will come out of the vet visit. “Hurry and finish getting dressed so you won’t be late.”

“I’m almost done, Grandma.” Which is true, he just needs to put his shoes and blazer on. “Tell Dad to text me what the vet says when you guys finish.”

“You know he will.” Grandma chuckled as Semi finished getting dressed.

“Be good, Mochi. I’ll see you this weekend.” Semi said, needing to end the call to head to class. The sleepy cat looked up and sniffed the camera. “Be good at the vet.”

The cat purred and laid her head down. Semi could tell something was off and hoped it wasn’t anything serious. 

* * *

“SemiSemi~!” Tendou sang outside of Semi’s dorm. “We’re waiting on you~! Come on, let’s go to dinner!”

But Semi is taking longer than usual, they’re usually waiting for Yamagata to find his phone before they could go to dinner. 

But not tonight.

“Maybe he fell asleep?” Jin suggested. “Coach Washijo did work us pretty hard today.”

“Possibly.” Ushijima responded, looking down at his phone and seeing that Semi hadn’t even read his text. And probably no one else's. 

But they didn’t wait much longer when they saw the door open and Semi came out of his room.

“Ah finally! Come on let’s go to dinner-”

“Go without me. There’s um...there’s an emergency at home. My mom is coming to pick me up right now.” Semi cut Tendou off, explaining his situation. Which explains the worried expression on his face. 

“Is your Grandma fine?” Reon asked, putting a comforting hand on Semi’s shoulder. 

Semi gave a nod, “Yeah she’s fine. It’s um...it’s something else.” 

Tendou went to open his mouth, but Semi looked down at his phone when he heard his phone ding.

“I need to go. I’ll see you guys in a day or two.” The setter said, walking passed the other third years. They all looked at each other, what is going on?

* * *

No one heard from Semi during those couple of days he had gone home. All their messages weren’t open and their calls went unanswered. They asked Coash Washijo if he knew anything, but all the elder coach knew was that Semi had a family emergency. They knew nothing until a few days later, they saw Semi that following Monday. 

And he didn’t look so good.

His hair looks like it hadn’t been brushed all weekend, the small bags under his eyes were much larger now; and as he walked towards them, his eyes were bloodshot. 

He looks like he’s been through hell. 

“SemiSemi,” Tendou softly spoke, stepping forward to his best friend. “What’s wrong?”

“You look like you’ve been through hell and back.” Shirabu added. 

“It’s been a bad weekend.” Semi answered, his voice hoarse. The setter let out a shaky sighed. “Really bad weekend.”

“What happened, Eita?” Ushijima asked, putting a hand on the setter’s back. That’s when the setter’s eyes began to water and he buried his face into Tendou’s shoulders. Mumbling something that no one could make out. 

Most of them had never seen the setter cry before, he’s always the serious one that nearly punches Tendou for his silly remarks. He never liked to show his emotions, rarely crying in front of the team. He only used to cry in front of Tendou, but recently allowed himself to cry in front of Ushijima after they started dating this past year.

For Tendou, this isn’t new and he’s familiar with how to comfort the setter. The middle blocker hugged the setter and held him close. Even though Ushijima had only seen Semi cry maybe once, he rubbed the setter’s back in comfort.

But for everyone else, this was foreign. 

“Eita,” Tendou started softly. “What happened?” 

The setter looked up to his best friend, the expression on the blond’s face broke Tendou’s heart. 

“Mochi died on Saturday.” Semi finally said, his lip quivering before breaking down again. Tendou gasped and held the setter closer. Ushijima closed his eyes and kept rubbing his face.

“Mochi?” Goshiki asked, tilting his head toward the side. “Who’s Mochi?”

“Eita’s cat, Mochi.” Tendou answered, looking back toward the group. “He’s had her since she was a kitten.”

“And she meant the world to me.” Semi spoke, looking up toward the group. “My sweet Mochi girl.”

“Eita, I’m so sorry to hear about Mochi.” Ushijima spoke. “I know how much you loved her. There’s no doubt in my mind she was grateful to have you as her owner.”

“Yeah, Wakatoshi-kun is right!” Tendou agreed. “She knew you were the best thing that could have ever happened in her life. And you showed her so much love, Eita.”

“I know and that’s what hurts. She’s one of the best things in my life and now...she’s not here, Satori.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind she loved you just as much you loved her.” Tendou whispered.

“Semi-san.” Kawanishi spoke up. “We’re sorry to hear about Mochi. I’m sure she was a great cat.”

Semi rubbed his eye while nodding, a big smiling crossing his face. “She was so great, I wish you could have met her.”

* * *

“How you managed to take Eita’s phone without him knowing honestly surprises me, Satori.” Yamagata said while watching Tendou click on a screen.

“Waka-kun is distracting him so it’s fine.” Tendou responded, waving off the comment. “He won’t know I took it and by the time he notices he doesn’t have his phone, it’ll be right back in its spot! He won’t know a thing.”

“If you say, Satori.” Jin said, not buying the plan at all.

“Well Satori does sort of have a point. Eita’s been so focused on grieving Mochi that he really hasn’t noticed a lot of things.” Reon added. “Plus, he’s with Wakatoshi so I doubt his phone is on his mind.”

“See!” Tendou snapped his fingers and pointed at Reon. “If Reon agrees, then we’re good.”

“And that says a lot if Reon agrees.” Yamagata added.

“Nearly done?” Jin asked as the middle blocker nodded.

“Yeah, just a few more pictures and I’ll be done.” Tendou confirmed as he clicked on a few last pictures before pressing the print button. The first picture came out and Tendou picked it up, softly smiling at the siamese cat, looking up at the camera with her big blue eyes from her spot on the couch. 

“She was truly the best cat.” He signed. “I can’t believe she died.”

“How long did Eita have her?”

“Almost six years.” Tendou answered, picking up more pictures as they came out. “He’s had her since he was twelve.”

“Damn.” Yamagata said, shaking his head. 

“If you think SemiSemi loved his Grandma, then you should have seen how much he loved Mochi. They’re his favorite girls in the whole world.” Tendou picked up a printed picture of Grandma Semi with Mochi. 

Grandma had sewed a cat version of Semi’s jersary and Mochi always wore it on game days. Sending her support to her favorite human and his team. Semi always received a picture on game day from his two biggest fans. 

“This was taken before our first game during Inter-high. They always made sure to send a picture to Mochi on the day of any of our games to Semi.” Tendou chuckled, he’s gotten them too. 

“Wait the hell is up with this picture.” Yamagata asked, looking at a picture of the cat with a funny expression on his face. Tendou looked and laughed.

“Ha! I remember this! Semi caught her in the middle of a sneeze. Oh man that was funny!” Tendou chuckled, looking at the picture. “Her sneezes always took forever to come out.”

“Guess she liked it when Semi read?” Reon asked, picking a freshly printed picture. Semi laid out on the couch, a blanket pulled up to his waist and reading a book. And there is Mochi, right in his lap and curled up asleep. 

“LOVED when Eita was reading, her favorite time of day was when he would be settling down for the night. The moment he picked up whatever book he was reading, she darted downstairs to get into their spot.” Tendou sniffed. “Ah shit, here come the tears.”

“Aww Satori.” Jin rubbed the middle blocker’s shoulder. 

“She was such a great cat and it sucks to know she’s gone.” Tendou never realized how attached he had grown to Mochi until now. He whipped the tears that were forming away as he looked down as the last picture fell. 

He picked it up, Mochi smiling up at the camera, the last picture Semi took of her.

“We found the collage picture frames, senpais!” Goshiki called out as the underclassmen returned from this mission. “We grabbed three!”

“I grabbed a singular one.” Shirabu said, holding up a single picture frame. “Just in case we had an odd number.”

“Yeah, we’ve got an odd number.” Tendou sniffed after counting. “That’ll work.”

“Senpai, are you okay?” Goshiki asked, noticing how glossy the redhead’s eyes are.

“Yeah I’m fine.” Tendou nodded. “I just...I’m going to miss her.

* * *

“Thanks for tonight, ‘Toshi.” Semi sniffed, rubbing his eyes as they returned to his dorm. “I needed it.

“Of course. You know I’m here for you, Eita.”

Even though Ushijima had never been through this himself and didn't know how to express his sorrow; the least he could do was be there for Semi and listen to him. And that’s what they did after dinner, Semi just talked about Mochi. His face all red from the cry fest he had during multiple stories the setter told of his beloved cat. 

Ushijima really felt like he knew Mochi by the end, even though he had only met the cat a handful of times. But he’ll keep those memories of her close to him. 

“I know and I appreciate it. I really do.” The setter softly smiled up at him. 

“Come on.” Ushijima opened the setter’s door. “Let’s get you into bed, you look exhausted.”

“I feel exhausted.” He chuckled, walking into his dorm. But as he entered his room, he noticed three white frames on his bed and one on his desk. He raised an eyebrow as he walked over, picking up the frame on his desk. 

“Oh Mochi…” Semi whispered, covering his mouth when seeing his sweet girl. The last picture Semi ever took of her, smiling right at him. “Oh my sweet girl.”

The picture frame had writing at the top, “ _ The sweetest girl in the world _ ” and no doubt she is the sweetest girl in the world. Ushijima also noticed the frames and saw a note on top. He picked it up and opened it.

_ We know how much you loved Mochi. So we printed pictures out of her and put them into these frames. Whenever you’re missing her, just look at the pictures and she’ll be smiling right at you.  _

_ -The Team _

Ushijima chuckled and looked over to Semi, hugging the picture frame. The captain walked over and put a hand on the setter’s back, making him look up. 

“This is the last picture I took of her.” Semi said, showing the picture to him. “It’s like she was looking at me, thinking about all the years we had together. And how happy she is that I was her owner, because she never smiled like this. It’s like she  _ knew _ that would be our last night together.”

“I’m sure that was what she was thinking.” Ushijima agreed, looking down at the picture of the smiling cat. “She looks truly happy and you made her happy.”

The brightest smile he had ever seen from a cat. A cat that had a wonderful life and that was well loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, long time no see. 
> 
> 2020 has been terrible. With everything happening from the beginning of the year, I was trying to stay optimistic. Saying that this is just a bump in the road and that the rest of 2020 would be great!
> 
> Until January 21st when my beloved dachshund, Pluto, died that morning. And that's when 2020 became the worst year for me, the love of my life was gone. I had hoped that I still had a couple of years left with him, but he had been in heart failure for almost two years and it was his time. 
> 
> And it hurts because I have had Pluto since 2006, since I was 11 and I recently just turned 25. Almost 14 years, sometime this April would have made 14 years. He's been there since the end of childhood years, the beginning and the ending of my teenage years and the start of my adulthood. 
> 
> I lost a lot of motivation and I struggled during those first couple of weeks, I was depressed. I'm going to be 100% honest, I don't even know how I managed to pass my two classes that I was taking at the time. And even now, I am struggling to find a lot of motivation to do things, such as writing. So until I can get that motivation, I don't know when the next time I'm even going to open up a Google Doc is. 
> 
> I do want to note, I'm doing a lot better mentally. I told myself, March is going to be the month that I kick depression's ass and start moving on. And I did and I'm doing a lot better. I have my good and bad days, but there are many more good days compare to bad days.
> 
> So, this is a grieving piece. The last picture that Tendou printed out is the last picture I took of Pluto. It's my twitter icon if you want to see it (@tokikurp).
> 
> Thank y'all for being patient with me and still reading my works. Whenever I open my email, I smile every time I see the kudos. It puts a smile on my face. Y'all are the best.
> 
> ♡♡♡


End file.
